Poverty in Honduras

Honduras is the poorest country in Central America and second poorest in the Western Hemisphere with GDP per capita at US$3,000 per year (2006). The economy has continued to grow slowly but the distribution of wealth remains very polarized with average wages remaining very low. Economic growth in the last few years has averaged 5% a year, but 50% of the population still remain below the poverty line. It is estimated that there are more than 1.2 million people who are unemployed, the rate of unemployment standing at 27.9%.